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I. WHAT THESE ARE.

1. Ministers. The Corinthians had made a strange mistake; they had been regarding ministers as masters, and choosing which they preferred to serve. In a singular loss of dignity (singular because many of them were not a little afflicted with pride) they had become ambitious of belonging to ministers, forgetting that ministers, as such belonged to them. Ministers are the servants of the Church, and thus among the believer's possessions; instead of quarrelling over them, he should use and enjoy them. God has greatly enriched his people by sending to them many able and faithful ministers. Whilst these should be highly esteemed for their work's sake, their true relation to the Church should never be lost sight of. They should bear it in mind, and thus check any tendencies towards lordship.

2. The world. It is generally thought that the world belongs to the Wicked One and his children, seeing that it appears to be largely in their hands. This is a popular blunder. The world was made and is kept for the people of God. Unbelievers have no right to the things which they grasp. The ungodly hold their possessions upon a precarious tenure. They are very short leaseholders, or rather they are tenants at will. Believers are the freeholders, and at last "the meek shall inherit the earth." The child of God has not yet "come of age;" but his title is good, and now he enjoys as much of his inheritance as is good for him in his present state. But as believers look at the world they can say, "It is ours - all of it, and all things in it work together for our good." Cowper says -

"The Christian looks abroad into the varied field
Of nature, and, though poor perhaps compar'd
With those whose mansions glitter in his sight,
Calls the delightful scenery all his own.
His are the mountains, and the valleys his,
And the resplendent rivers; his t' enjoy
With a propriety that none can feel
But who, with filial confidence inspir'd,
Can lift to heaven an unpresumptuous eye,
And smiling say, 'My Father made them all.'"

3. Life. Without Christ there is nothing worthy of the name of life. Life is emphatically the believer's. What possibilities it has for him! how vast are his opportunities! Pity it is that some believers seem only half alive to this. The child of God has in life the experience most likely to benefit him: mercies, joys, trials, temptations, pains - all his, to do him good. The lives of others are also controlled for the welfare of the redeemed.

4. Death. Death, a precious possession. The entrance to the life immortal. Death conquered has become the believer's servant. Death, the dire loss of the impenitent, the great gain of the saints. The death of those outside the Church is ordered for the well being of those within. God strikes down the foes of his people when the right hour has come.

5. Things present. The present order and movement in the world; all governments and powers; the march of the ages; - all these things are made subservient to the great work of redemption. "God moves in a mysterious way," but always moves for his people.

6. Things to come. Not only the present order of the world, but the future. Believers often tremble for what is coming; the Church quakes, for she dreads some future movement, glimmerings of which she can discern, perhaps, in the present. But God is in the future, giving that future to his people. All discoveries, all increase of knowledge, all progress, shall be for the weal of Zion: "The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." And the believer reckons amongst things to come, the heavenly world, the life immortal, the higher service, the perfected nature, the unsullied joy. All these are his. How rich, how blessed, is he!

7. All things. Marvellous truth, that there is nothing of which he can say, "It is not mine."

II. SECURED BY THE BELIEVER'S CONNECTION WITH CHRIST. Believers are Christ's. His servants? yes; his friends? yes; but his "brethren," and thus "heirs" with him - "joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17). Christ is God's. All that the Father hath is the Son's. All that the Son hath belongs to those that are his; and this is "all things." What an amazing transformation, then, there is in conversion! The unsaved has nothing; the saved, "all things." Are we unutterably poor or infinitely rich? The question is answered when another is: "Are we Christ's?" - H.

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Parallel Verses

KJV: Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

WEB: Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours,